Suspected Jihadist Girl Arrested in France Before Trip to Syria

A 16-year-old girl suspected of trying to travel to Syria to join Islamist rebels was arrested at an airport in France, French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said Sunday. Cazeneuve said in a statement that the teenager was arrested Saturday at the Nice airport, in southeastern France, before she was able to board a flight to Turkey. A 20-year-old man was also arrested for allegedly recruiting the girl and paying her airfare, the statement said. The girl's family "knew nothing of her intentions," Cazeneuve said.

France estimates that 800 of its citizens have left to join Islamist groups in Syria, according to Reuters. Cazeneuve urged parents who suspect that their children are displaying signs of "violent radicalization" to call a hotline he created in late April. Since that time, 300 reports have been called in, a quarter of which were regarding children and 45 percent of which involved females, according to the Interior Ministry.